Minister of Environment says food supplies in Saudi Arabia at safe levels

Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture

Abdulrahman Al Fadley, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and Chairman of Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO), said food supplies and stocks in the Kingdom are stable, and there are no concerns about their abundance in the local market due to the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

In a statement, Al Fadley indicated that the Kingdom boosted its food stocks to maintain the local supply, as per its food security strategy and the committees formed to oversee its implementation.

The supply chains of agricultural, animal and food commodities are safe and reliable, in light of the volume of local production of several basic commodities and the achievement of high sufficiency rates for many of them, the minister said.

He added that this is also attributed to the multiple import locations globally. “Thus, we rule out any scarcity in supply as a result of the crisis.”

The Food Abundance Committee, emanating from the Food Security Committee, is meeting regularly during this period to monitor the abundance of food commodities in the local market and follow up on global and local supply chains.

As regards the local stocks of basic food commodities such as wheat, rice, sugar, edible oils, and poultry meat, Al Fadley said they are all at safe levels and there are no concerns about any shortage in the quantities supplied.

“The Kingdom’s way of dealing with COVID-19 whose repercussions outweigh the current crisis was a model to be followed, as the local food commodity markets did not witness any shortage in supply. The country was also ranked as one of the best countries in the world in the abundance of food,” the minister concluded.